Mr. Speaker, ten years ago today, thousands of Chinese students took to the streets to express their desire for democracy in China.
They gathered peacefully on Tiananmen Square to show that China too was feeling the universal desire of humanity for liberty.
This demonstration was harshly repressed at the cost of several lives and with the imprisonment, under very difficult conditions, of many democratic Chinese.
While this repression delayed the inevitable democratization of China, the demonstration bore witness to indomitable will to democratize China.
The Tiananmen students must know that their action was not in vain, because they have been heard and their desire for liberty will be achieved sooner or later. Because of their courage and their determination, the world will not forget Tiananmen as the prelude to a new era, an era of liberty and justice.